In the Driver's Seat

Michael Womack started racing in Southern California, moved to North Carolina to have more options, and decided the best opportunity this year was back on the West Coast with the Lucas Oil Modified Series presented by LoanMart.

Michael Womack started racing in Southern California, moved to North Carolina to have more options, and decided the best opportunity this year was back on the West Coast with the Lucas Oil Modified Series presented by LoanMart.

Womack, who is 16, said the opportunity was presented to him by Blaine Perkins, another 16-year-old who has raced in the series, and Womack "will always thank him for this. He was asking me what my plans were. I said we really don't have any plans; we're looking to get into a bigger car, we just haven't found the right opportunity yet.

"He was like 'well, I'm going to be driving a (NASCAR) K&N car so why don't you come drive my car when I'm off?' That just opened the door right there. That was beautiful, because from then on I got to drive for (team owner) Mike Garcia full-time and it's been a blast ever since.

"Really it was just a great opportunity that Mike Garcia was able to give us. He's a great guy, his personality is awesome and I love his team. We decided to come out here, give it a try and see how we like it and hopefully move on to next year."

Womack began racing go-karts at 5, finished third in the country in the Rotax Nationals, spent some time in Bandoleros and stepped up to Legends Cars, which he still races on the East Coast. He's 18th in this year's national point standings in the Pro Asphalt division and 30th in the Pro Road Course division and will miss the Lucas Oil Modified event at Madera, California, October 8, to race in the Legends Nationals. But he'll be back for the series' final two events this year and all of next season, if things go according to plan.

Womack and his father, Michael, moved to North Carolina a couple of years ago and make their home in the Town of Troutman, which calls itself Lake Norman's Front Porch. But Womack is enrolled in a home school program through Sunland Christian School in Sylmar, California, and father and son spend so much time in airports and on airplanes they're on a first-name basis with most of the flight crews.

That doesn't figure to change in 2017, either, since the plan according to Womack is to run the full Lucas Oil Modified Series in the West, race Late Models in the East and build on what he's learned this season.

"It's been a great season," he said before the race at Kern County Speedway September 17. "We've learned a lot with just this whole series. I've had more fun in these cars than I've had in any other car.

"I've been told that there is an insane similarity (between Modifieds and Legends Cars), but personally I don't feel like there's much to that. Yes, both cars are over-powered and under-tired. But this is just a big car. There are really no similarities between a big car and a Legends car."

Womack said his most important lesson this season was "not something I just learned; it was something I had to re-learn. It was patience, in getting used to the car and learning how to drive the car. Now I think we've figured something out and we're going to be able to move forward as a team."

Womack said he began to feel like everything was coming together during the race weekend at West Valley City, Utah, in July and had a top 10 car until mechanical issues sidelined him early. But he built on that experience at Kern County, where he finished 19th on his first visit to the fast half-mile oval.

"It takes time, like anything else, and this is a really tough deal," he said. "I feel like the best drivers on the West Coast are in this series.